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Security of the Succession, etc. Act 1701

The Security of the Succession, etc. Act 1701 (13 & 14 Will. 3. c. ) was an Act of the Parliament of England. The act required nearly all office-holders to take the oath of abjuration against James Francis Edward Stuart, pretender to the throne, self-styled Prince of Wales and son of the former King James II.[1]

The act also made it high treason to "compass or imagine" the death of Princess Anne of Denmark, the heir apparent to the throne, with effect from 25 March 1702.[2] This clause never came into force however, since Anne became queen on 8 March 1702.

Assay of Plate Act 1702

Another act, the Assay of Plate Act 1702 (1 Ann. c. 3), passed in 1702, amended the Coin Act 1696 (8 & 9 Will. 3. c. 26), which concerned treason by counterfeiting coins.

Provisions

Section 1 of the act continued the Coin Act 1696 (8 & 9 Will. 3. c. 26), as continued by the Coin (No. 2) Act 1697 (9 Will. 3. c. 21), until the end of the next session of parliament after 25 March 1709.[3]

Notes

  1. ^ Start of session.
  2. ^ Start of session.

References

  1. ^ E. Neville Williams, The Eighteenth-Century Constitution. 1688-1815. Documents and Commentary (Cambridge University Press, 1960), p. 340.
  2. ^ Section XV.
  3. ^ Raithby, John, ed. (1963) [1821]. "1° Annæ". Statutes of the Realm. Vol. 8: The Statutes of the First to the Sixth Years of the Reign of Queen Anne (1702–1707). London: Dawsons. p. 7 – via Hathi Trust.

See also